arabic accent perception and prejudice in the usa

59 Pages·2011·1.41 MB·English

by  Angela Marie Carothers

ARABIC ACCENT PERCEPTION AND PREJUDICE IN THE USA

A Thesis
submitted to the Faculty of the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
of Georgetown University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of
Master of Arts
in Linguistics

By

Greg J. Niedt, B.A.

Washington, D.C.
April 26, 2011
Copyright 2011 by Greg J. Niedt
All Rights Reserved

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ARABIC ACCENT PERCEPTION AND PREJUDICE IN THE USA
Greg J. Niedt, B.A.
Thesis Advisor: Robert J. Podesva, Ph.D.

ABSTRACT
This paper reports the results of a study investigating the extent to which native speakers of
American English associate specific personal qualities to native speakers of Arabic based solely
on auditory information. 234 participants, recruited through online social networks, heard sound
clips of Arabic-accented English and were asked to rate each speaker from 1 to 5 in categories
such as ―assertive‖, ―intelligent‖, and ―religious‖. Responses were analyzed to determine which
demographic factors, such as sex, race, and political/religious self-identification, were
statistically significant. The results were found to be significant for some of the respondent
groups, in certain qualities: the paper illustrates which are seen as particularly related to Arabic
accent, as opposed to ―non-native‖. The survey results are combined with interviews with native
Arabic speakers on their experiences as speakers of accented English in the USA. The paper
attempts to construct a picture of the American language attitudes towards Arabic, highlight
stereotypes and prejudices that are drawn out through linguistic interaction, and offer directions
for further research beyond this initial study.

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The research and writing of this thesis would not have been possible
without the continuous support of my family, friends, and colleagues.

I dedicate the research and writing of this thesis to
Bruce and Kathleen Niedt, Angela Carothers, Corinne Seals, Anna Marie Trester,
and everyone else who participated in making this a reality.

I also dedicate it to anyone that might be better served
from the results presented herein.

My sincerest thanks,
Greg J. Niedt

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1
The Arab and Arabic-speaking community in the USA ..................................................................... 6
The Study: Qualitative Methodology .................................................................................................. 10
Qualitative Data ..................................................................................................................................... 11
The Study: Quantitative Methodology ............................................................................................... 17
Quantitative Data ................................................................................................................................... 21
Analysis ................................................................................................................................................... 22
Comparing accents for levels of significance .............................................................................. 22
Examining particular quality ratings across respondent groups ................................................ 24
Effects of different subcategories of sound clip .......................................................................... 29
Interpreting the data ........................................................................................................................ 32
Limitations and Solutions .................................................................................................................... 36
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 39
Appendix A: Survey ............................................................................................................................. 42
Appendix B: Survey versions and order of sound clips .................................................................... 45
Appendix C: Respondent pool broken down by demographic category .......................................... 46
Appendix D: Demographic factors and factor groups in least-squares regression; graphs of non-
statistically significant responses for Arabic accent by demographic group ............................ 47
Bibliography ........................................................................................................................................... 52

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Introduction
The question of foreign accent is one of great interest for the purpose of discussing how speakers
of one language acclimate to another in terms of both the way those speakers produce the new
language, and the way in which their accents are thereby perceived. Furthermore, from mastery
of a language comes easier integration into a new society. Dennis R. Preston (2004) points out,
―Language attitudes are a significant part of how we assess one another. Understanding folk
attitudes towards ways of speaking contributes to our knowledge of how speech can influence…
critically important matters for maintaining equality in a democratic society‖ (480). What are the
social and psychological effects of making judgments based on the sound of someone‘s voice?
Does this kind of linguistic gatekeeping prevent speakers with particular variations in their
language from getting jobs, finding houses, receiving services?
In the context of mainstream American language ideology (one that emphasizes
monolingual English use despite the diverse multiculturalism of the nation), native speakers are
often positioned above immigrant or non-native speakers. Stereotypes arise from a priori
―knowledge‖ about various groups, and when a non-native speaker‘s identity is determined
through symbols (which can include language), native speakers may place negative assumptions
upon that person. With the marked increase of media reporting on the Middle East and the Arab
world, and increased visibility of a Muslim minority in the United States, the Arabic-speaking
community deserves some attention in this regard. Some of the most severe stereotypes—
terrorist, extremist, misogynist—are reserved for members of this community. If language can be
linked to a particular group in an American listener‘s mind, are they hearing Arabic-influenced
features, and in turn evaluating speakers more negatively than they otherwise would? If so, how
and why is this occurring?
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There has been extensive research conducted on the processes by which particular
features of a native language (or L1) become present in the speaker‘s newly-acquired language
(or L2), and on the phonetic features that constitute this or that accent. However, this study is
more concerned with the social perception of accented speakers by the natives of the language
they are using. More recent studies (see for example: Major 2010; Rindal 2010; Derwing and
Munro 2009; Ibrahim, Evatar, and Leikin 2008; Rahman 2008) have established the hardship of
overcoming the patterns of one‘s original language and the social or psychological pressures this
can create for speakers. Al-Issa (2003) discusses the ultimate impossibility—or at least,
improbability—of distancing oneself from the social norms of the L1 when attempting to
communicate in the L2. He defines the process of carrying over these norms as ―sociocultural
transfer‖, and quotes Thomas (1984) in saying this transfer results in ―sociopragmatic failures…
the mismatch which arises from cross-culturally different assessments within the social
parameters affecting linguistic choice, etc.‖ Similarly, the ways in which people evaluate their
own speech and that of others are ―culturally inherited‖ and ―consist of different values,
preferred communication styles, expectations, and interpretations‖ (al-Issa 2003: 581). The L2
speaker must undertake a supreme effort to overcome the choices in his or her speech that a
native speaker perceives as anomalous.
It is one thing to discuss whether a native speaker of that L2 senses these anomalies
phonologically, syntactically, or even idiomatically; but it is quite another to discuss what effect
that perception will have on L1 listeners with whom the speaker is interacting. In a multicultural
society with an unprecedented level of media involvement in everyday life such as we see in the
United States, we are constantly subject to the opinions of others as they match up with
backgrounds, ethnicities, and perhaps even languages. A great deal of linguistic research
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(beginning with Labov 1972; see also for example Ochs and Capps 1996; Eckert and Rickford
2001) has been done on how [ethnic] identity is co-constructed in interaction, in a delicate ballet
between participants that relies on communicative cues to constantly re-evaluate self and others.
A linguist must concede, though, that the average person may not mediate their evaluative
process with this level of metalinguistic awareness, and holds set perceptions about identity in
general, particularly ethnicity. Rampton (1995) states that in a given interaction, ethnicity is
almost always marked as either neutral (as an in-group feature, where it is a non-issue) or
negative (as an intergroup feature, since the difference in speech style is salient). Two
complications of this concept are that even within ethnicities, there is plenty of demographic
variation that can cause speaker bias; and that there is often a visual component to the perception
of ethnicity. This latter point is especially important, as it is a significant factor in creating the
idea of ethnicity as an unalterable category which has a direct influence on interaction. ―Because
participants are assumed to experience ethnicity as an unchangeable inheritance…ethnicity is
liable to lead to a communicative breakdown‖ (Rampton 487). In this paper, I will show that the
accents of particular ethnicities can effect reactions in listeners on their own, without other
signaling cues.
We can presume that the features of a non-native speaker‘s speech pattern are noticeable
and that they lead to discontinuity in communication. If the role of ethnicity in creating this
discontinuity means it is given negative value by the native speaker, we should consider how
particular languages may be affected. The work of Jane H. Hill on Spanish, especially its use and
devalued caricature in the public sphere—what she calls ―Junk Spanish‖ (Hill 1995)—is
particularly illuminating in the example of that language. She discusses the role that native
speakers‘ language ideologies about their linguistic superiority play in interacting with non-
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native speakers (particularly those resident in ―their‖ country), the great chain of association
from perceived characteristics of a group that is lower in the majority‘s view to their native
language and marked use of the L2, and the means by which ideology does this as a function of
―public‖ and ―private‖ rights by the native speakers. She cites van Dijk (1993) in calling this
―covert racism‖, a discourse ―that protects the positive self-image of the racist and in turn the
positive image of whites [in this case] more generally…permit[ting] racist discourse and its
negative and exclusionary functioning to proceed‖ (Hill 1995: 199). In order to expose and tear
down that ideology where it does exist, we must find a way to make it overt rather than covert.
Anderson (1991) has pointed out that in fact, a nation (and not so far by extension, an ethnicity)
is actually an ―imagined‖ community, demonstrating the fallacy of such ideologies in the first
place.
Of course, the result of language ideology that appears in everyday interaction is that L2
speakers suffer from value judgments L1 listeners place upon them based on a perceived lack of
mastery of the language. Rosina Lippi-Green (2004) states, ―we rely on language traits to judge
others. […] Language is – among other things – a flexible and constantly flexing tool for the
emblematic marking of social allegiances. […] Speakers choose among sociolinguistic variants
available…and their choices cluster together in ways that are obvious and interpretable to other
speakers‖ (291). The problem arises when the dominant members of the speech community
assign themselves the right to deem particular clusters of those variants (or the speakers
associated with them) as less in some way, and perform discriminatory acts as a result. Lippi-
Green frames her chapter with many anecdotes from workplaces, schools, and government
offices (including courts) where language was the salient feature that resulted in prejudice.
Researchers have documented many similar instances in the United States (such as Baugh 1999,
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an example of his well-known work on linguistic profiling via telephone), while Gluszek and
Dovidio (2010) draw on several social psychology studies to state that ―speaking with an accent
can elicit considerable stigmatization‖ (28-29). The majority of these studies note the frequency
with which the subjects committing these acts of discrimination are so unaware of what they‘re
doing: these kinds of judgments have become so normalized in American society that when
quantitative data display the magnitude of the issue, people are shocked that there could be – and
that they might contribute to – such a situation (Lippi-Green 292).
There is a wealth of research on these perceptions that has been done for other languages
in the United States; the overwhelming majority focuses on Spanish, since the Hispanic
population is now the largest (collectively-identified ―ethnic‖) minority in the country. A great
deal of work besides Hill‘s has been written for the purpose of identifying and mitigating bias
towards Spanish speakers in the classroom (Valdés 2003), workplace (Barrett 2006), and media
(Santa Ana 2009). A number of other papers and studies have also taken place for the other
speech communities (including Arabic) in other countries, which often fall into two varieties:
small minority communities that are native to the region, or diaspora communities. However,
very little work has been done on the status of Arabic speakers in the USA specifically examining
how they are regarded based on their language use and accent. My goal in this paper is to address
this topic, and attempt to determine how American listeners react to hearing an Arabic accent;
what particular qualities do they associate with the accent? Do they immediately make strong
character judgments about the speakers? Are these judgments positive or negative in comparison
with an American accent, and with another non-native accent?
I will first discuss the status of the community and language as a whole. Afterwards, I
present samples from interviews with Arabic speakers who generously shared their stories and
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